Rare books from Frey Fine Books

New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857. 1st Edition. Cloth. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 1st edition. A Very Good copy. 12mo., ix, (iii), (13)-203, 12 pp., with 12 pages of the publisher's advertisements at the end. Bound in the publisher's brown cloth with the title and floral decoration on the spine in gilt. Spine sunned, with lettering fading. Small area of discoloration on the rear board, near the spine's foot. Light foxing to the preliminaries. Previous owner's name, 1857 date and town in ink on the front end paper; name and 1857 date on the title page. Internally very clean and bright. Very Good. *** First appearance of the Star-Spangled Banner in book form. The name and town of the previous owner is Thomas Cowan of Chapel Hill, NC. The Cowan family is a prominent North Carolina Family, and he is likely the son of the Cowan's of Wood Grove Plantation, in Rowan County, NC. Thomas Cowan was a graduate of the University of North Carolina in 1857, and died during the Civil War (See… Read More

London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1838. 1st Edition. Leather. Very Good. George Cruikshank. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 3 volumes. First issue of the 1st edition. 12mo., [Vol.1]331; [Vol.2] 307; [Vol.3] 315pp., illustrated with 24 frontispieces and plates. Bound in full morocco, with boards single lined in gilt. The six compartment spines are decorated with a five leaf flower in each compartment, and title and volume number in gilt. Edge dentelles. a.e.g. Tips very lightly rubbed. Spines sunned, with joints lightly rubbed. Some loss of gilt to the spine's lettering. New paste downs and added end papers. Each volume's title page, and volume 1's half title page have been stamped with an oval stamp. These stamps show signs of having been attempted to be erased. It is my belief, when coupled with the new paste downs and end papers, that this set was formerly an ex-library set, with an attempt to remove all library markings. Each volume contains a laid in slip showing it was "Purchased at… Read More

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1914. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Good-Box. Jessie Willcox Smith. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 1st edition. A Near Fine copy, in Good box. Oblong 4to., 173 pp., illustrated with a color frontispiece and 16 color and b&w plates; text further illustrated with drawings. Bound in black cloth with title on the spine in white; color illustration pasted onto the front board. Housed in the publisher's card stock box, with illustrated edges and printed publisher information. An excellent copy, with just a hint of wear to the spine lettering. The box has been reinforced on all edges with tape (see photo). A beautiful copy, Near Fine in the Good publisher's box. *** The classic work illustrated by perhaps the finest illustrator from the Golden Age of Illustration. Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated numerous books of the era, and did every cover work for Good Housekeeping from 1917 to 1933. She was only the second women to be inducted into The Hall of Fame of the Society of… Read More

Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1505. 1st Edition. Vellum. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1505 and 1518. 1st editions. Two volumes. Octavo (6"). Period vellum over paste board, gilt titles on slightly later morocco spine labels. Old hand written date and volume number in ink at foot of each volume's spine. [Vol.1] 242 unnumbered leaves; [Vol.II] 172 numbered leaves(Leaves 89, 91, 93, and 95 misnumbered 97, 99 101, and 103), Aldine Press anchor device on title and last page of both volumes. Very Good or better. A charming set of the first editions virtually never found in matching period bindings. Volume I's boards are moderately soiled, with drip staining and a small tear at the fore edge, exposing the paste board. Volume II is only very lightly soiled, with less edge wear than volume I. Both volumes have 19th century marbled paste downs, with matching book plates of Francesco Bubani, of Milano. Last gathering of volume I browned/browning, with some browning on the title page, just above the anchor… Read More

Mindata Publishing Company, 1980. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. No date, c. 1980. Nine volumes. Quarto. Ringed binders with numbered fiche in slotted panels inside, gilt titles and decoration on front and spine. Near Fine, covers slightly bumped, spine gilt dull on a few volumes, contents Fine, index leaves tanned on edges. A vast archive of the auction houses' London sales from Edwardian days through the 1970's. All but the painting volumes have an index, as issued. Over 77,000 items on 1055 fiche and divided into nine parts: FURNITURE: Including Ormolu and musical instruments; SILVER: Including Objects of Virtù, Fabergé and jewellery; CERAMICS: English and Continental items, glass and Art Nouveau; ORIENTAL: Chinese porcelain; also Japanese arms and lacquer, Islamic rugs and MSS; GENERAL DECORATIVE & APPLIED ART: Including sculpture, arms and armour, clocks, antiquities, tribal art, tapestries and icons; DUTCH & FLEMISH SCHOOL PAINTINGS; BRITISH SCHOOL;… Read More

London: Printed by Stephen Couchman, For W. Curtis, 1793. First edition thus. Leather. Very Good. 1st edition, thus. Volume 1 only. A Very Good copy. 8vo., with engraved frontispiece and 40 hand coloured plates. Bound in half red morocco and marbled paper over boards, with title on spine in gilt. 3 front blank end papers, 5 blank rear end papers. Handsome bookplate. Boards lightly rubbed, spine more so. Front paste down foxed. Frontispiece dampstained, transferring to a lesser degree to the title page. Text and plates generally clean, with occasional off-setting and a dot of foxing. A Very Good copy. *** Originally issued in monthly parts, each consisting of three plates and accompanying letterpress text: this edition a reprint in annual volumes. Text leaves are bound facing the plates they describe and numbered to correspond to that plate. Drawings for the plates were made by: James Sowerby, Sydenham Edwards and Francis Sansom; coloring supervised by William Graves.*** Bookplate of known book… Read More

New York: National Association of Audubon Societies, 1926. 1st Edition. Wraps. Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. (ca. 1926-7) 1st edition. A Near Fine copy. 8vo., 64 pp., illustrated with b&w photographs and drawings. Bound in gray stiff illustrated wraps. Some very light soiling to the wraps, and a small smudge on the rear panel. Near Fine. *** The Legendary Golfer, Bobby Jones' scarcest written work. Written for the Audubon Society, with a committee of seven men, including T. Gilbert Pearson, President of both the National Association and the Golf Club Bird Sanctuary, who was also one of the founding members of the conservation movement in the United States. A remarkably clean, fresh copy, without creases, rubbing, previous owner's names or writing.

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1890. Deluxe edition. Leather. Very Good. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Deluxe Limited Edition (Demy Quarto Edition de Luxe), this being #92 of 250 numbered copies. 2 volume set, complete. A Very Good set. 4to., [Vol.1] 529; [Vol.2] 472 pp., illustrated with frontispieces, 44 plates (6 of them etchings signed by the artist), text drawings, and 5 maps (1 of which is a large, folding map). Bound in half brown morocco and vellum, with title, flag design and author's signature in gilt on the front boards. Top edge gilt. SIGNED by Stanley on the limitation page. Some edge wear on the leather. The vellum boards are soiled. Matching book plates of F. W. Sykes, Esq. Dust soiling to the text block's fore edge. Some light, monor foxing to the frontispieces and some maps. Very Good. *** Expedited and international shipping only, will require additional postage.

Urbana, Il: University of Illinois Press, 1972. 1st Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 10 Volumes (lacking vols. 1, 2, 6, 14) beige cloth, SIGNED 1st eds (1972-1984) all in Very Good (a few small chips / tears) Dust Jackets. Textblock edges lightly soiled, owners name (John Hope Franklin) written in a few vols., a small number of lightly bumped corners, otherwise clean / unmarked. The dj's are now protected in mylar sleeves. **** Previos owner of this set was African American author and historian. Franklin is best known for his book, FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDON (1947). He was also President of both the American Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association.

London: Printed for Harrison and Co, 1785. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. 1st ed. Two volumes in one. Folio ( 14 inches ). Early -mid 20th century half leather and cloth with gilt spine title, marbled end papers. Complete with index, Preface, text and 100 hand colored plates with many individual animals per plate. Very Good, very tight, very slight wear to covers. The hinges have been professionally strengthened with a high quality cloth tape. The text and plates are generally nice and clean save the following: there is a light, old stain at the top of the second blank end paper, title page, index page, preface page, first plate and first page of text ( see photos ). The title page has been backed and has a repair at the bottom fore corner. The first pate has been laid down and has some overall soiling in addition to the top stain. Three early text leaves have some heavy foxing. the rest of the text is clean save some very little foxing here and there or some light… Read More

London: Smith Elder & Co, 1876. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1st edition. Two volume set, complete. A Good set. 8vo. Original publisher's primary binding of red-brown cloth, blocked in gilt to spine and upper cover with elaborate borders in black. The front cover gilt is well rubbed on the first volume, less so on the second. The gilt on both spines is mostly rubbed away. The leaves and illustrations are very clean with only a few very minor fox spots here and there. The hinges of Volume One are starting to weaken but still on, Volume Two is better as usual. Overall a Good set of one of hardy's rarest works. *** Originally written in serial form for the Cornhill Magazine. First appearance here in book form. ***.

Paris: Chez le Rouge, 1776. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine. Elephant Folio - over 15 - 23" tall. Four volumes. No date ( c. 1770's ). 1st ed. Oblong elephant folio ( 17.5 inches ). Modern burgundy cloth and end papers with simple gilt title on spines. Cahier One - 23 plates and 3pp of text ( lacks the four plates after the text ); Cahier Two - 23 plates plus the extra folding plate; Cahier Three - 28 plates; Cahier Four - 29 plates numbered 1 - 30 with #16 not present, probably as issued, as the on-line digital version is also so numbered. A total of 103 plates plus two extra. Front cover of Cahier One has a wear spot. The plates in the first three volumes are generally near Fine, Cahier Three has a few that have some minor to moderate spotting on the blank fore edge, the extra plate is Very Good + with some slight tanning along the fold line. The paper of Cahier Four seems to be of a lesser quality which has caused the margins to tan on most of the plates and 17 of them have lightly tanned over… Read More

New York: E. P. Dutton & Co, 1924. 1st American edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good. 1st American edition. A Near Fine copy in Very Good dust jacket. Red cloth in white, illustrated dust jacket. Top edge of text block coated grey. The dust jacket has very light edge wear, and a very small loss at the spine's foot. The text signatures remain largely unopened. A handsome copy in scarce, surprisingly intact and fresh dust jacket. This title marks the first appearance of Winnie The Pooh, in the poem on page 85, The Teddy Bear (albeit unnamed).

London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1886. 1st edition. Cloth. Good +. 1st edition. 2 volume set, complete. A Good+ set. 8vo. {Vol.1] 313, (2); [Vol.2] 312, (5) pp. Bound in the publisher's blue cloth with title and decoration in black. Floral end papers. Moderate edge wear, particularly at the spines' crowns. Vol.1's front board a bit rubbed, with uneven sunning. Front joints just beginning to loosen. A very scarce set, in the original cloth. Part of Hardy's Wessex books, with Casterbridge taking Dorset's place. This first edition was of a very small run of 750 printed, the result of a reader from Smith and Elder not being impressed with the story, as it had a lack of gentry (Claire Tomalin, Thomas Hardy: The Time-torn Man, 2006). Considered to be one of Hardy's masterpieces.

Boston: Hilliard, Gray & Company, 1836. 1st edition. Leather. Very Good. 1st edition, 1836. 2 volume set, complete. A Very Good set. 8vo., [Vol.1] xliii, (i), 690; [Vol.2] li, (i), 769 pp. Bound in contemporary full an leather, with titles on red morocco labels on the spine. Spine volume numbers stamped in blind, as are the spine and board border fillets. Volume 1 has a pull at the spine's crown, with a loss, and a small area on the front board where the leather has peeled partial away. Volume two was protected by an old, handmade coarse paper jacket, which deteriorated, but served its purpose admirably. Scattered foxing throughout both volumes. Both hinges and joints remain strong. An attractive set. OCLC locates just one set, at the Nationale Biliotheque, with other institutions holding either volume 1, or volume 2. Constitution scholar and Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story's (1779-1845) work, one of over 30 he authored on the Law. He shaped the Court, and American law perhaps more so than even… Read More